James Laurenson

James Laurenson (born 17 February 1940) is a New Zealand stage and screen actor. Early life Laurenson was born in Marton, North Island, New Zealand. He was a student at Canterbury University College in Christchurch (now University of Canterbury) where he was directed by Dame Ngaio Marsh, notably in the title role in Macbeth at the Civic Theatre Christchurch in 1962. He moved to the UK in the mid-1960s and made his film debut in 1969 with a small part in Women in Love, although he also had an uncredited part (as an Oxford rower, playing alongside Graham Chapman) in The Magic Christian. Career He has appeared in numerous British Shakespearean productions, notably Richard II, as Rosencrantz in Hamlet, and on radio in the marathon series, Vivat Rex. He also appeared as Piers Gaveston in the 1970 production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, opposite Ian McKellen who later recalled that kissing Laurenson "was a bonus throughout the run". Other costume roles included a French courtier in Elizabeth R and the Earl of Lincoln in Shadow of the Tower (1972).